Chapter 5 CHAPTER 5 Finding Solutions Five million refugees found a solution through resettlement or voluntary repatriation in the last decade Finding durable solutions that enable displaced people to rebuild their lives and live in safety and dignity is at the core of UNHCR’s work. Planning for solutions from the outset of displacement is one of the primary objectives of the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR). This chapter focuses primarily on durable solutions for refugees. Traditionally, durable solutions include voluntary repatriation, resettlement to a third country and local integration. However, a growing number of people of concern to UNHCR remain in precarious protection situations with little hope of a durable solution. Over the last decade, the world recognized that governments, humanitarian actors and development partners must come together with refugees to find durable solutions for those in need. This recognition for comprehensive and situation-specific solutions is at the heart of the GCR and its Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework (CRRF). The GCR seeks to strengthen solutions in two main ways: 48 1) to expand access to resettlement and other complementary pathways in third countries; 2) to foster conditions that enable refugees to return voluntarily to their home countries. Despite these initiatives, solutions for refugees are in decline. Resettlement benefits only a fraction of the world’s refugees. In 2019, only half a per cent of the world’s refugees were resettled. Over the past 10 years, just over one million refugees were resettled, compared to 3.9 million refugees who returned to their country. Thus, for every refugee resettled since 2010, approximately 4 have repatriated. This is in stark contrast to one for every 12 during the prior decade when almost 10 million refugees repatriated and 810,400 refugees were resettled – a strong sign that as conflicts rage on without end, voluntary repatriation as a solution for refugees is diminishing over time.57 57 By comparison, between 1990 and 1999 more than 15 million refugees voluntarily repatriated while more than 1.3 million were resettled. UNHCR > GLOBAL TRENDS 2019